2024 ESPY Awards: How to Watch Live, Nominations & More

Are you ready for the biggest night in sports entertainment? If not, it’s time to get ready, because the The 2024 ESPYS Presented by Capital One returns to ABC, live on THURSDAY, JULY 11, and will feature some of the biggest names in sports and entertainment. Watch with DIRECTV while your favorite athletes are recognized for their major athletic achievements

What are the ESPY Awards?

The ESPY Awards are an annual awards ceremony that honor outstanding achievements in the world of sports. The awards were first established in 1993 by ESPN and have continued to thrive from there.

What does ESPY Stand for?

Technically, ESPY is an acronym for “Excellence in Sports Performance Yearly.”

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When are the ESPY Awards?

You can watch the event live on July 11 at 8 p.m. ET to find out which of your favorite athletes and teams bring home an ESPY.

How to Watch the 2024 ESPY Awards

Sport fans in the United States can tune into the biggest awards night in sports live on ABC.

Find your local ABC affiliate channel here.

Who is Hosting the ESPY Awards?

The one and only Serena Williams will be hosting the prestigious award ceremony for 2024. As one of the most talented and fan-favorite athletes in history, Williams is the perfect embodiment of what the ESPYs are all about.

Throughout her career, Williams has 23 Grand Slam single titles, 14 doubles (with sister, Venus Williams), 4 Olympic gold medals and 13 ESPY awards!

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2024 ESPY Awards Nominations

Similar to the MTV Music Video Awards and the Billboard Music Awards, the ESPYs are powered by fan engagement. That’s right, fans have the opportunity to vote for their favorite athletes in hopes they will take home the 2024 ESPY for their given category.

Voting will be underway until 5 p.m. ET on the day of the awards, July 11, which you can find here: ESPYs Voting. Until then, here’s a look at the individual categories and the nominees for each.

Best Athlete – Men’s

• Patrick Mahomes, Kansas City Chiefs (2023 winner)
• Shohei Ohtani, LA Dodgers
• Scottie Scheffler, Golf
• Connor McDavid, Edmonton Oilers

Best Athlete – Women’s

• Caitin Clark, Iowa Women’s Basketball
• Coco Gauff, Tennis
• Nelly Korda, Golf
• A’ja Wilson, Las Vegas Aces (2023 nominee)

Best Breakthrough Athlete

• Haleigh Bryant, LSU Gymnastics
• C.J. Stroud, Houston Texans
• Juju Watkins, USC Women’s Basketball
• Victor Wembanyama, San Antonio Spurs

Best Record-Breaking Performance

• 49ers Christian McCaffrey scores a TD for a record breaking 17 straight games
• Caitlin Clark becomes NCAA’s All Time Scoring Leader breaking Pete Maravich’s Record
• Tara VanDerveer, Stanford Women’s Basketball – gets 1,203rd win to pass Coach K for most by any coach in NCAA basketball history
• Max Verstappen wins record 10th consecutive race with victory at Italian Grand Prix

Best Championship Performance

• Michigan’s Blake Corum and Will Johnson, 2024 College Football National Championship
• MVPs Kayla Martello, Boston College Women’s Lacrosse
• Midge Purce, NJ/NY Gotham FC – NWSL Championship
• MVP Jaylen Brown, Boston Celtics

Best Comeback Athlete

• Simone Biles, Gymnast
• Paige Bueckers, University of Connecticut Women’s Basketball
• Joe Flacco, Cleveland Browns
• Zion Williamson, New Orleans Pelicans

Best Play

• Jayda Coleman calls GAME sending Oklahoma to their 4th Straight Championship – NCAA Softball 6/4/2024
• Anthony Edwards Dunk of the Year – 3/18/24 – NBA
• Alabama scores on 4th & 31 to win vs. Auburn 11/25/23
• Lamar Jackson Caught His Own Pass & Ran With it – 1/28/24 – NFL

Best Team

• South Carolina Gamecocks, NCAA Women’s Basketball
• Kansas City Chiefs, NFL (2023 winner)
• Michigan Wolverines, NCAA Football
• Las Vegas Aces, WNBA
• University of Connecticut Huskies, NCAA Men’s Basketball
• Oklahoma Sooners, NCAA Softball
• Boston Celtics, NBA
• Florida Panthers, NHL
• Texas Rangers, MLB

Best College Athlete – Men’s

• Jayden Daniels, LSU Football
• Zach Edey, Purdue Men’s Basketball
• Ousmane Sylla, Clemson Soccer
• Pat Kavanagh, Notre Dame Lacrosse

Best College Athlete – Women’s

• Haleigh Bryant, LSU Gymnastics
• Caitlin Clark, Iowa Basketball (2023 winner)
• Sarah Franklin, Wisconsin Volleyball
• Izzy Scane, Northwestern Lacrosse

Best Athlete with a Disability

• Jaydin Blackwell World Champion Sprinter
• Ezra Frech, World Champion High Jumper
• Brenna Huckaby Snowboarding Champion
• Oksana Masters, Cross-Country Skier/Hand Cyclist

Best NFL Player

• Myles Garrett, Cleveland Browns
• Lamar Jackson, Baltimore Ravens
• Patrick Mahomes, Kansas City Chiefs (2023 winner)
• Christian McCaffrey, San Francisco 49ers

Best MLB Player

• Ronald Acuña Jr., Atlanta Braves
• Gerrit Cole, New York Yankees
• Shohei Ohtani, Los Angeles Angels (2023 winner)
• Corey Seager, Texas Rangers

Best NHL Player

• Nikita Kucherov, Tampa Bay Lightning
• Nathan MacKinnon, Colorado Avalanche
• Auston Matthews, Toronto Maple Leafs
• Connor McDavid, Edmonton Oilers (2023 winner)

Best NBA Player

• Luka Dončić, Dallas Mavericks
• Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Oklahoma City Thunder
• Nikola Jokić, Denver Nuggets (2023 winner)
• Jayson Tatum, Boston Celtics

Best WNBA Player

• Napheesa Collier, Minnesota Lynx
• Breanna Stewart, New York Liberty
• Alyssa Thomas, Connecticut Sun
• A’ja Wilson, Las Vegas Aces (2023 winner)

Best Driver

• Ryan Blaney, NASCAR
• Matt Hagan, NHRA
• Álex Palou, IndyCar
• Max Verstappen, F1 (2023 winner)

Best UFC Fighter

• Islam Makhachev
• Sean O’Malley
• Alex Pereira
• Zhang Weili

Best Boxer

• Terence Crawford
• Seniesa Estrada
• Naoya Inoue
• Oleksandr Usyk

Best Soccer Player

• Aitana Bonmatí, Spain
• Naomi Girma, USWNT
• Vinicius Junior, Brazil/Real Madrid
• Kylian Mbappé, France/Real Madrid

Best Golfer

• Nelly Korda
• Xander Schauffele
• Scottie Scheffler (2023 winner)
• Lilia Vu

Best Tennis Player

• Carlos Alcaraz
• Novak Djokovic (2023 winner)
• Coco Gauff
• Iga Swiatek

Specialty Award Nominations

Unlike the award categories above, which are voted for by fans, there are a few additional awards that are given out to honor those making a difference in the world of sports or in the greater community through sports. Below are the awards, what they are for and who will be honored at the 2024 event.

The Arthur Ashe Courage Award… will be awarded to former New Orleans Saints safety, Steve Gleason for his fight against ALS, reflecting Arthur Ashe’s spirit of strength, courage and willingness to stand up in the face of adversity.

The Jimmy V Award for Perseverance… will be awarded to the University of South Carolina Women’s Basketball Head Coach Dawn Staley for her 2023 38-0 perfect season and NCAA Women’s Basketball Championship title. The award recognizes her not only for her determination and ongoing support for women’s sports, but also for all she has done in the fight against cancer.

The Pat Tillman Award for Service… will be awarded to Prince Harry, The Duke of Sussex for his work with the veteran community through the power of sport. The Award for Service is given to a person with connection to sports that have served their community in another way, such as through military service.

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Watch the 2024 ESPYs with DIRECTV

Make sure you don’t miss a moment of the 2024 ESPY Awards sponsored by Capital One Thursday, July 11th on ABC. Tune in at 8 p.m. ET to watch the award show live or record it to your DIRECTV cloud DVR and watch when it works for you.

If you don’t have DIRECTV, now’s the time to change that. With the 2024 Paris Olympic Games just a few weeks away, you’re going to want top-notch sports coverage.

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